'Car Plays' deliver theater that's in your face, literally

"The Car Plays," part of the 2nd Annual Off Center at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, will be performed on the Arts Plaza beside Segerstrom Hall until Feb. 2. PHOTO COURTESY SCFTA

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There are 15 plays in "Car Plays." Audience members are limited to two per car. They squeeze in to a vehicle to watch actors (usually two) perform in scenes that average about nine minutes in length. PHOTO COURTESY SCFTA

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"Car Plays" started in Los Angeles a few years ago after Moving Arts theater company was forced to leave its performance space and needed an inventive way to keep going. PHOTO COURTESY SCFTA

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From "Car Plays" at the 2013 Off Center Festival: "The Cake" with Leandro Cano, Latherine Lee and Miguel Angel Caballero. STEVE DAWSON

â€˜The Car Playsâ€™

Where: Arts Plaza, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

When: Today and Sunday. Also Feb. 1 and 2. 3:30, 5, 7:30 and 9 p.m.

How much: $20

Tickets: 714-556-2787

Online: scfta.org

The undisputed hit at last year's Off Center Festival was "The Car Plays." The lucky few who could snag tickets lined up in pairs to see short scenes performed in cars parked on the Arts Plaza beside Costa Mesa's Segerstrom Hall. Most seemed to agree that there's nothing like witnessing sex, death, love, hate and screaming arguments, the juicy gist of theater, two inches in front of your nose.

This year they're back: 15 plays in all (there are three series of five, each performed in its own line of cars), including seven world premieres, four of them co-commissioned by South Coast Repertory and the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

"The Car Plays" were conceived by Paul Stein, artistic director of L.A.'s Moving Arts theater company, as an inventive way to keep his ensemble going after the loss of their venue. Most feature two actors, but configurations vary. In one car, the audience might sit in the front seats and watch the drama unfold behind them. In another, you might both squeeze into the back seat with an actor who converses with someone in the front.

What sticks with you is the immediacy and intimacy of the experience. You feel as if you're part of the story, either as an invisible observer or (in one play) a mute member of the ensemble. And there's an undeniable realism in watching a wrenching drama unfold in a humdrum place where we spend many mundane hours. Even outlandish situations carry a spooky sense of truth in such an environment.

The "Route" series offered three world premieres: "Casey & Casey" by JJ Strong, "Ski Mask" by Nick Jones and "Gaping Mouth of a Hungry Earth" by Bekah Brunstetter.

"Casey & Casey" was the strongest of the three. Two teens, a boy and a girl both named Casey (Dylan La Rocque and Lucy Eaton), sit silently in the back seat of a minivan, waiting for his father to fill the gas tank. But dad is taking too long. It soon becomes clear that this is a set-up. The boy's father is hoping to kindle some romantic sparks between the pair, although she makes it abundantly clear that's not going to happen. But a shocking revelation literally leaps out at them, changing everything. Both young actors were convincingly awkward and filled with silent angst.

"Ski Mask" was essentially a running joke about desperate actors – their ego, vanity and lamely justified bad behavior. It was hilarious at times, but thin. David Youse and Daria Balling had loads of fun with their characters, confirming all our worst suspicions about preening thespians.

"Gaping Mouth of a Hungry Earth," about a father and daughter (Stoney Westmoreland and Ayden Westmoreland) coming to grips with a major earthquake, suffered from moments of excessive melodrama, but in such close quarters their panic and growing fear seemed frighteningly real.

The other two plays dealt with more mundane scenarios, but they were both effective.

"Drop-Off Day" by EM Lewis presented a poignant moment between a mother and daughter (D.J. Harner and Mia Danelle). It's the daughter's first day at college, and the two share fears, hopes, doubts and other emotions that attend the cutting of the apron strings. Unlike most of the other "Car Plays" scripts I've seen, Lewis' story is devoid of surprises, huge emotions or "Holy cow!" moments. But its depiction of a mother and daughter struggling with a fundamental change in their relationship was quietly touching and completely believable.

"Skipped" by David Myers delivered the biggest laughs in the "Route" series, though its conflict threatened at times to turn violent. A teen named Nate (Westley Swihart) tries to skip his cab fare, but the wily foreign-born cabbie, László (Matthew Siegan) is onto his lame tricks. Their prolonged debate touches on ethics, sex, the moral bankruptcy of American youth and lots of other fascinating topics as they spar over the bill.

"Car Plays" is perhaps most impressive as a way to study the actor's craft at the microscopic level. Performing at this proximity is like acting in front of a camera; subtlety is crucial. This ensemble understands the challenges and rewards.

But be warned: For that reason, these shows aren't for everyone. For some, the intimacy will be too much. It's the kind of experience that either makes you want to become an actor or sends you off into the night feeling like you never want to be that close to the craft again.

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